We’ll still give China millions despite aid cut: Whitehall ministries will NOT be covered by new clampdown on cash flowing to Beijing
- Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced on Wednesday that his department will cut funding for programmes in China by 95 per cent
- However other Whitehall ministries, including the business department, are not covered by the new clampdown
- This means projects such as a plan to build floating offshore wind farms in China will still be entitled to money from the UK aid budget
Tens of millions of pounds in foreign aid may still go to China despite a promise to slash funding to the global superpower.
Whitehall ministries, including the business department, will not be covered by the new clampdown on cash flowing to Beijing.
It means projects – including a plan to build floating offshore wind farms in China – will still be entitled to money from the aid budget.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced on Wednesday that his department will cut funding for programmes in China by 95 per cent.
Tens of millions of pounds in foreign aid may still go to China despite a promise to slash funding to the global superpower. Whitehall ministries, including the business department, will not be covered by the new clampdown on cash flowing to Beijing. Pictured: Children take part in an Earth Day parade in Suqian, China
But the reduction will not include contributions from the rest of Whitehall. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which is responsible for almost half of the aid to China, will continue to fund schemes there.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith last night said the revelation made a mockery of Mr Raab’s announcement. The former Tory leader demanded that the ‘whole of government cut its spending at once’.
Despite a promise a decade ago to stop sending foreign aid to the world’s second biggest economy, China has continued to benefit from funding by British taxpayers.
Projects paid for by the business department include £1.5million on developing plans for floating offshore wind farms and wave energy hubs.
Officials said the aim of the programme was ‘to promote the economic development of China by reducing the cost of energy and reliance on fossil fuels’.
Other spending by the department in 2019 included £851,561 on researching air pollution in cities and £438,795 on gastric cancer screening in rural areas.
Some £20,161 went on a photography project using archive images to document life in pre-communist China, and £24,740 was used to increase the uptake of syphilis tests among gay men.
The Government has shelved a manifesto commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid due to the economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis, cutting it to 0.5 per cent. It means the budget will be cut by £4 billion to around £10 billion this year.
Mr Raab said ministers intended for the 0.7 per cent target to return ‘when the fiscal situation allows’, but did not set out what the criteria for this was.
The business department said last night: ‘We do not provide aid funding for projects that support Chinese development.’